BC Juvenile: Will the Undefeated Streak Continue?

Shanghai Bobby enters the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with the only undefeated record. What’s
unique about the impressive start to his racing career is that the battle to
remain unbeaten goes even further than his own stats. Shanghai Bobby will
attempt to become the third consecutive juvenile to walk away from the Breeders’
Cup in the same fashion as they rolled in, Undefeated.

Let’s
rewind to 2010 where another Todd Pletcher trained colt took the 2-yr-old stage
by storm. Uncle Mo swept through the Champagne Stakes to win by four lengths
before moving on to win the Juvenile by more than four lengths as well. His quick
jump to 3-0 set off a wave of chatter. He was thought of as a horse well above
his game for his age and with good reason became the unchallenged Kentucky
Derby Future Wager favorite.

Looking back
this colt and Shanghai Bobby had a lot of similarities. Besides the obvious,
trained by Todd Pletcher, the one that stands out the most is the distance
question. Don’t think for a second that Uncle Mo didn’t face the same critics
as Shanghai Bobby in 2012. Going into to the Juvenile Uncle Mo was a mere 2-0.
After scoring in his 6F MSW debut he fired back to claim the Champagne at
Belmont Park - does that sound familiar? Yes, Uncle Mo had also yet to be tested through
two turns but Pletcher proved that it didn’t matter at all. Instead, Uncle Mo blitzed the field and drove
home for the convincing win.

At this
point you might be asking yourself if I’m telling you that Shanghai Bobby will
do the same. My answer is absolutely but what I’m not telling you is that I’m
betting on it. Not yet at least.

Now let’s
look back at last year’s Juvenile also at Churchill Downs. White tail and all it
was the unknown unbeaten that took care of business against one of the most
impressive Juvenile fields of all time. As they filed into the starting gate it
was a different undefeated Juvenile that was getting all of the attention. Just
like Uncle Mo Union Rags entered the Breeders’ Cup fresh off notable win in the
Champagne Stakes. The score made him the overwhelming post time favorite but
the unlikely undefeated horse got out front and held him off in the stretch.

There aren’t
a whole lot of comparisons that can be drawn between Hansen and Shanghai Bobby.
Because that’s the case we'll stick with the big one, maybe the only one; they
were both undefeated.

This brings
us to Breeders’ Cup 2012 and the task that Shanghai Bobby now faces. Keeping the
undefeated streak alive will not be an easy one but the odds look good so far.
But of course there is one piece of competition that is soaking it up on the
west coast.

The odds
are out and although Shanghai Bobby was given the slight advantage over Power Broker, the California kid will likely be a handful. The Bob Baffert trained
colt enters after a very strong win in the 1 1/16 mile FrontRunner Stakes at
Santa Anita and should be ready to handle the distance once again. Great match up.

Win or lose
you can’t deny that Shanghai Bobby is a very formidable candidate to carry the
undefeated torch into this year’s Juvenile. He has raced very soundly thus far
in his career and should be considered right up there with Uncle Mo and Hansen.
His four wins in four lifetime starts landed him where he’s at and if the
racing God’s approve, he will remain at the head of the class after this
weekend.

But, that’s
how long we have to wait before we discover what the God’s have decided. So
until then, the question I have for you is: Will Shanghai Bobby become
the third consecutive undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion?

I think the Juvenile is Shanghai Bobby's race. But, you know what happens to a lot of Juvenile winners. Uncle Mo was an exception due to his health problems, but as we have seen, many Juvenile winners fail to become impressive later in their careers. It makes me wish the Juvenile winners weren't such big favorites in KY wagering scenarios, since most of the time they don't accomplish anything in the Derby. They may make it to the Derby, but that's about it. So far, only one Juvenile winner has gone on the the Kentucky Derby and won.

I would say at this point he is even more accomplished then Hansen or Uncle Mo. He has also shown that he can rate, something neither demonstrated they could do very effectively. He is not as flashy, winning by double digits, but at the same time he has yet to be challenged. I like him here, even with the delayed travel.